Team India has been announced for the Australia tour amid poor conditions in the Pune Test against New Zealand. BCCI has selected 18 players for the 5-match test series. Many players playing in the current home series are not part of this squad. At the same time, many players who contributed significantly in capturing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the last two tours have also been dropped. This time, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma along with some new players are going to land on Australian soil with the intention of scoring a hat-trick. The first match of this series will be played in Perth from 22nd November. Let us know how Team India’s playing XI may look during the series.
What will be the playing XI in Australia?
When the Indian team defeated Australia at home on the last two tours, the new players had made important contributions. This time too, many players in the squad of 18 players are going to play on Australian soil for the first time. There are some players who may get a chance to debut directly on foreign soil. Considering the conditions of Australia, it is expected that 3 pacers, 1 spinner, 1 pace all-rounder and 1 wicketkeeper, apart from 5 main batsmen, will be present in the playing XI of Team India.
These batsmen are expected to play
The opening pair of the first match against Australia will depend on captain Rohit Sharma. According to media reports, he may miss the first match. In such a situation, back up opener Abhimanyu Easwaran may get a chance to debut. However, if Rohit is present then he will be seen opening with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Shubhman Gill has performed well at number 3 in recent times. He also batted well on the last Australia tour. Virat Kohli will be seen at number 4 and Rishabh Pant at number 5. There is a fight between Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul for number 6. Looking at the current form, Sarfaraz can win in this. Apart from this, Nitish Reddy is expected to be played at number 7 as a pace all-rounder.
How will India’s bowling attack be?
Jasprit Bumrah has emerged as the leader of the Indian pace attack in recent times. Obviously he will be included in the team. Apart from him, Mohammad Siraj can be seen playing as the second main fast bowler. Akashdeep has impressed a lot since his debut against England. Due to his accurate line-length and wicket-taking ability, he is more likely to play as the third fast bowler.
In the spin department, India can go with experienced bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. He can also bat. In the last tour, he had performed brilliantly with ball and bat. Along with Hanuma Vihari, he also saved a test match. If we look at the possible playing XI in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep are the four players who are going to play in Australia for the first time. All of them will have a big responsibility to defend the trophy.
Probable Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
team india squad
Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana.
Reserve: Khalil Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini
